Press/Journalists

National Archives Explores the U.S.-Canadian Border November 12
Press Release · Thursday, November 6, 2008

North of the Border: The Counter Revolution

Washington, DC…On Wednesday, November 12 at 7 pm, the National Archives presents a special program on the historical and current significance of the U.S.-Canadian border, “the world’s longest undefended border.” James Laxer, journalist and political scientist at York University in Toronto, will discuss his book The Border:  Canada, the U.S. and Dispatches From the 49th Parallel. The program will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Building, which is located on the National Mall at Constitution Avenue and 7th Street, NW, and is fully accessible. This program is presented in partnership with the Embassy of Canada.

In his book, Laxer explores the U.S.-Canadian border, taking the reader on a compelling 5000-mile journey into culture, politics, history, and the future of Canadian sovereignty. Drawing deeply from history and anecdote, Laxer shows that the U.S.-Canadian border has long been contentious. At the end of the Revolutionary War, tens of thousands of loyalists departed from the newly-created United States, many of them going to the remaining British colonies in North America, which now compose parts of Canada. The U.S.-Canadian border is more than the meeting point between a superpower and its friendly northern neighbor. It distinguishes those who took one path out of the American Revolution from those who took another.

This event is one of a series of free National Archives public programs inspired by the new exhibition 1783:  Subject or Citizen? that celebrates 225th anniversary of the Treaty of Paris, and runs through January 25, 2009, in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery of the National Archives Building.

For information on National Archives Public Programs, call 202-357-5000, or view the Calendar of Events online.

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For Press information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (202) 357-5300.

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